The iconic Kiwi brand is stepping up its global ambitions.<\/p>\n
Blunt\u2019s founder Greig Brebner was travelling in London when he stumbled on the idea that would go on to occupy the next quarter-century of his working life.<\/p>\n
\n Walking through the city\u2019s heaving streets one typically rainy afternoon, the Kiwi inventor
\n was struck by the sea of poor-quality products all around him.\n <\/p>\n
\u201cI saw umbrellas and thought, \u2018this is a product that really needs some work\u2019,\u201d he recalled in the latest episode of Common Grounds, an NZME podcast in partnership with Nespresso Professional that steps inside Aotearoa\u2019s most loved small and medium businesses.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing in London, everything seems so expensive, but these umbrellas were just crap\u2026 I nearly got my eyes poked out a few times, for sure\u2026 those spikes are dangerous!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt felt like everyone was putting up with this product and they didn\u2019t need to. I felt if I could design a better product, and actually get it in people\u2019s hands, they would pay good money for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brebner was right \u2013 they would.<\/p>\n
But it wouldn\u2019t be until seven years later \u2013 in 2006, after securing investment and making countless prototypes in his father\u2019s plastic factory \u2013 that his vision would become a commercial reality.<\/p>\n
Blunt is now a sensation in New Zealand and overseas, revered for umbrellas that blend both form and function. Its sleek, fashion-forward canopy does away with sharp metal points and can survive the blusteriest of days, with its most premium model able to withstand 115km\/h winds.<\/p>\n
While the company has expanded to more than 20 staff off the back of its success, in the early days of the business \u2013 before there was a product to sell \u2013 it was a tale of setbacks and disappointments for one-man band Brebner.<\/p>\n
Greig Brebner (left) and Scott Kington, founders of the Blunt Umbrellas company with Wilhelmina O\u2019Keeffe (right).<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first 18 months, I thought the umbrella was just the worst product in the world, and I had to fix every single thing about it. I was having all these radical ideas, trying to invent this absolutely new thing, and I got nowhere,\u201d he told Common Grounds.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just a huge lesson not to start from scratch on things. After a while, I worked out that I needed to get the traditional umbrella and just work out what were the good bits and what were the bad bits \u2013 and work on the right stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n
That approach \u2013 of refining the umbrella rather than reinventing it \u2013 was what struck a chord with consumers, allowing Blunt to sell their products at $99 back in 2006, when most other umbrellas were significantly cheaper.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you do something totally radical, everyone\u2019s like, \u2018eh, it\u2019s not for me\u2019 \u2013 especially umbrellas, because they\u2019re fashion products,\u201d Brebner told Common Grounds.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople need to be seen with them, they need to look like something they\u2019re actually comfortable with \u2013 and I think that\u2019s where Blunt\u2019s won: we\u2019re still quite a classic-looking product, but we have that facelift to us with our curved edges.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Blunt now has a loyal customer base and an established product range, that doesn\u2019t mean innovation has slowed; Brebner and Graydon say they are always finding ways to improve their product and reach new consumers.<\/p>\n
They credit some of their ongoing innovation to the organisation\u2019s coffee culture, which has been supercharged with the installation of a Nespresso Professional coffee machine in their new central Auckland headquarters.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe quality of a good organisation sits on the quality of the conversation \u2013 and the conversation always starts at the coffee machine,\u201d says Graydon, who starts each day with a Ristretto capsule.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe check-in at the coffee machine is not rocket science, it\u2019s connecting before correcting. We just scrum down every week. We\u2019ve got a small team, but they\u2019re powerful.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Nespresso Professional coffee machine has also played a role in bringing people back into the office when working from home had become the norm during Covid.<\/p>\n
Nespresso Professional, Zenius Commercial Coffee Machine.
\nEasy to use, compact and creates exceptional coffee and hot water at the touch of a button.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing together is so crucial \u2013 just those small little communications that don\u2019t happen when you\u2019re at home\u2026 the actual human element of being together, you can\u2019t replace that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Graydon says the next big ambition for Blunt is to take the brand truly global. It\u2019s something that was attempted earlier in the brand\u2019s existence, to mixed effect.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe story of a new umbrella was quite attractive to a lot of people,\u201d says Brebner, \u201cso we had a lot of people wanting it. But it went out to the world probably too fast. We went quite thin around the world and had to pull back.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Graydon came into the business in 2018, Blunt was in 57 markets around the world, and he made the decision to cut that by more than half, focusing mainly on Australia and New Zealand for a few years.<\/p>\n
Now, however, Graydon believes Blunt is ready once more to attempt to \u201cconquer the world\u201d \u2013 albeit taking a less scattergun approach this time, starting with the US and UK markets.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019ll take years to build to what we want to achieve there. We\u2019re building every year. Are we building at the right rate? Probably never. But we\u2019re building.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve got a massive Australasian following up there [in the UK], so it\u2019s helping a lot \u2013 but we\u2019re only just getting started.\u201d<\/p>\n
For now, though, Graydon is just pleased to helm one of New Zealand\u2019s genuine business success stories.<\/p>\n
\u201cIconic Kiwi brands\u2026 weren\u2019t [iconic when they] started. You\u2019ve got to stay at it \u2013 it takes longer than you think and costs more than you plan. But at the end of the day, Blunt is an iconic Kiwi brand.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elsewhere in the episode, Brebner and Graydon discuss Blunt\u2019s rollercoaster journey to date, the impact of their new Newmarket base, and how they are using AI to supercharge their business.<\/p>\n
Discover how Nespresso Professional can transform your workplace coffee experience here: www.nespresso.com\/pro<\/a><\/p>\n Listen to the full episode of Common Grounds here: <\/p>\n